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bent, he continued the practice of draw- ing; made acquaintance with two herald painters, from whom he gained some help; copied such prints as he could get, among them the cartoons of Raphael, and decor- ated his father's house with his attempts. Happily, finding a purchaser for his works, he was enabled to go to Dublin. Here he became the pupil of Mr. West, the well- known able teacher of the figure, and at the age of 22 he painted a large historical subject from a sketch he had made at Cork, The Conversion and Baptism of one of the Kings of Leinster. Tnis work was ex- hibited at the Dublin Society of Arts, and at once brought him into notice and gained him the friendship of Mr. Burke, who, in 1764, induced him to come to London, in- troduced him to his friends, and in the next year assisted him by an allowance of 60/. a year to visit Italy. On his way he stayed a while to study, and then went on to Rome, where, as nis letters show, he ap- plied himself earnestly to his improvement m art; but, unfortunately, an irritable temper led him into disputes with both the artists and lovers of art in that capital.
In 1770, after an absence of five years mostly spent in Rome, he returned to London, visiting on his way Florence, Turin, Bologna, and other cities, and the following year he exhibited his first picture at the Royal Academy, the ' Adam and Eve.' now in the possession of the Society of Arts, and next year his ' Venus rising from the Sea,' when he gained his election as associate, and in 1773 as royal acade- mician. These pictures, and his ' Jupiter and Juno ' exhibited at this time, obtained him much notice but no employment, and he advertised to give lessons twice a week for three guineas per month. He disliked portraiture — indeed, he was by temper and manner most unsuited to its successful pursuit — but devoted to epic art, he was one of the foremost of the artists who proposed to decorate St. Paul's Cathedral, & the plan did not originate with him. In 1776 he completed a 'Death of General Wolfe/ Led away by his love of classic art — and not without high contemporary authority— his figures in this picture were all nude? and provoked criticism which stirred him to unbridled anger? and much bitter feeling ensued. Enthusiastic in his desire to vindicate the genius of his countrymen, he published at this time his reply to the ill-founded opinion of the Aobe Winckelmann, that the English are incapable both from natural defect of genius and an unfavourable climate of attaining excellence in art. His wants were, from his well-known habits, few; yet he must have found a difficulty to supply them by the practice of high art, and he recurred to his proposal to teach, offering to give in-
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struction in the art of design to any noble- man or gentleman who might require such assistance.
Shortly after, he was engaged in the great work of his life. In March 1777 the Society of Arts accepted his offer to decorate their great room with appropriate paintings, on condition that he was pro- vided with canvas, colours, and models for his work. He chose for his subject ' Human Culture,' and thus describes his designs: ' In this series, consisting of six pictures on subjects useful and agreeable in themselves, I have still further endeavoured to give them such a connection as might serve to illustrate one great maxim or moral truth — viz. that the obtaining of happiness, as well individual as public, depends upon cultivating the human faculties. We begin with man in a savage state, full of incon- venience; imperfection, and misery; and we follow him through several gradations of culture and happiness, which, after our probationary state here, are finally attended with beatitude or misery. The first is the story of Orpheus; the second, a Harvest Home, or Thanksgiving to Ceres and Bacchus; the third, the Victors of Olympia; the fourth, Navigation, or the Triumpn of the Thames; the fifth, the Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts; and the sixth, Elysium, or the State of Final Retribution. Three of these subjects are poetical, the others historical.' These six pictures are each 11 feet 6 inches high, and two 42 feet eaeh in length. All of them are crowded by carefully painted figures, and the Elysium is filled, with the portraits of the most distinguished men the world had then known. Barry, un- assisted by any one, and in strict conform- ity with his offer, completed his laborious work — which must have proved a constant strain upon his mental and physical powers — but not in three years as he had pro- posed, as it was not till April 26, 1783, that the Society of Arts voted him their thanks on accepting his finished work.
Meanwhile, m 1782, he was appointed
Srofessor of painting in the Royal Aca- emy, and at the beginning was irritated by some observations of the president on his want of diligence in preparing his lec- tures. But surely some allowance might have been made for an artist then so earnestly occupied; and there could have been little time lost, as he commenced his first course on March 2, 1784. But the choice of lecturer was injudicious, and should have been avoided. He was not popular in the profession. He had made enemies, and was soon charged with being intemperate in his remarks from the pro- fessors chair, and filling his lectures with invectives against his fellow-academicians. One of the body, Edward Edwards, in a
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